


all of the players (the movers and shakers) have gone home

by n0rthern_l1ghts



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-04
Updated: 2014-11-04
Packaged: 2018-02-24 01:16:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2562824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/n0rthern_l1ghts/pseuds/n0rthern_l1ghts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>“If you’re asking if I’d lie to keep a good kid out of this system, then I think you know the answer.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>The words sit with Laurel for longer than she thought they would.</p><p> <br/><em>(When did I become someone they need protection from?)</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	all of the players (the movers and shakers) have gone home

**Author's Note:**

> In their first meeting Ted said something to Laurel that tied perfectly into the Laurel as Black Canary arc I've always wanted. I don't really write fanfic, but something had to be done.

_“If you’re asking if I’d lie to keep a good kid out of this system, then I think you know the answer.”_

The words sit with Laurel for longer than she thought they would.

\---

She goes back to the gym the next day and corners Ted. She has a dozen things she wants to ask him, from How do you know this kid deserves protection? to Have you lied for others? to Have you ever done more than lie to defend these kids?

_When did I become someone they need protection from?_

All that comes out is “Can you train me?”

There’s time for the rest later, she supposes.

\---

One day when Laurel is helping Felicity monitor the Arrow the conversation turns to Sara.

“One of my favorite things Sara says is that no woman should ever suffer at the hands of men. She really makes you believe it’s possible not to, that you can keep yourself from it. Hell, even before I met her she had me believing that.”

Somehow, seeing Sara through Felicity’s eyes makes Laurel love her sister that much more.

\---

She has a daily training appointment with Ted, but it doesn’t take long before she’s showing up at all hours. When she really wants a drink, when she’s gone a few days without hearing anything from Sara, when her father goes into the field and winds up in the hospital (again).

_After she does a little more research on that case and learns that the kid that brought her to Ted had been abused by the murdered man._

Once upon a time she’d believed that you could always find justice without going outside of the law, but she’s seen Sara help people in ways that she can’t as a lawyer. Sara would think that someone who killed their abuser deserves protection, there’s no doubt in Laurel’s mind. If she holds Ted in contempt for doing something that Sara does, what does that make her?

She knows without a doubt that what Sara does is right.

\---

There’s a woman in AA who’s being abused. She calls Sara three times to ask for help before she manages to get a hold of her.

“I wish I could come back now, I really do, but what if I leave now everything I’ve been working on will fall apart.”

Laurel remembers their conversation on the roof, how Sara said she had one thing she had to do and then, hopefully, she could return to Starling City for good. The last thing she wants is to make this take longer.

She’s about to ask Oliver to help, but there’s some instinct that tells her to ask Felicity instead.

“Sure, Oliver could help her this time, but he can’t give her or anyone who hears her story hope. I know Sara can’t be here, but that doesn’t mean she can’t help. The Canary can still do this.”

And that’s how Laurel ended up dressed in all black, wearing a blonde wig and black mask Felicity found for her along with Sara’s leather jacket. Between how quickly Felicity had managed to procure the Canary costume and the comfort of her voice in Laurel’s ear, Laurel knows going to Felicity was the right move.

\---

That’s how she comes bloody and bruised to Ted’s gym for the first time.

“Have you ever done more than lie to protect the kids you look out for?”

It’s completely different from how she imagined saying it before. It’s a plea, not an accusation, and now Ted knows her well enough, _trusts_ her well enough to be honest.

“Yes.”

“I almost lost.”

Ted doesn’t ask what she needs. He doesn’t have to. He just leads her into the ring and they start sparring.

\---

When she goes out to fight, he hides in the shadows as backup. He knows she can do more good alone, as a symbol. But she’s new at this, and it’s safer with backup. She can’t do any good if she’s dead.

She hasn’t needed him to fight yet, and every day that streak gets longer it seems their smiles become warmer and their hugs last longer. He could so easily want to share the glory, but he likes that she's doing this alone. He likes being her safety net.

Laurel has never felt so in sync with another person in her life.

\---

Major news sites start reporting on the Canary. The strange thing is that none of the staff knows where the articles came from. They just appear, and they’re nearly impossible to take down.

There’s not much use in trying. When they manage to get one down it’s back within the hour.

They’re everywhere, so it’s not a surprise when Laurel finds a voicemail on her phone. All it says is, “I hope you’re getting good use out of that jacket,” but Sara’s laugh peeks through in every word.

\---

Felicity knows what Sara’s doing, but she won’t tell (no matter how much Laurel and Oliver beg).

Until one day when she drops a bombshell. “Oh, did you hear? The League of Assassins is working as a protection squad now. Yeah, I mean they still do the kill-y thing, obviously, they are still assassins after all, but Ra’s al Ghul is dead and now Nyssa’s in charge. Which is pretty cool, she’s actually prefers it when good people benefit when she kills someone. Apparently helping fight Slade’s army changed how she thinks about things or something.”

Even then, she didn’t quite tell them. They just figure it out when Sara gets back the next day.

(Felicity was wrong. What changed Nyssa happened before she came to Starling City, after Sara left).

 

\---

“So, are you back for good then?” They’re sitting on the rooftop where they stood the last time Laurel asked that question.

“Yeah. I’ll have to go help Nyssa with the League sometimes, but it’ll just be for a day or two at a time. I can’t take the killing anymore.”

“Well, now that you’re back I don’t need to be the Canary anymore. I can be what Dad wants again.” The words are so hollow they nearly echo.

Sara is silent for what feels like hours to Laurel. “You never needed to be the Canary.”

“I did though! You were gone, and the women of this city need the Canary. And don’t you dare say that the Arrow is enough, because you know that’s not true, Ollie could never be what we are to people.”

“No, Laurel, I mean you never needed to be the Canary. The Canary was what I needed to become to survive. For me, being the Canary wasn’t about giving people what they need, it was just about staying alive. Yes, I used it to help people, but that’s never what it was about for me, it always tied up in survival and killing. You and Felicity are the ones who saw it as a symbol for women fighting back against victimization. You’re the one who chose to pick up the mantle of Canary to protect a woman from her abuser. You and Felicity are the ones who used that to give abused women hope and strength.

“Laurel, I needed to become the Canary, and it was always a weight around my shoulders. You though, you chose to become the Canary and it doesn’t weigh you down, it lifts you up. I think it’s time that I found a name that does that for me, so I can be a hero, just like my big sister.”

**  
**_Laurel doesn’t say it out loud, but they both feel it through their bones. Because she became a hero, just like her little sister._

\---

Just once more, Sara dons the Canary wig and mask. Tonight, when Laurel and Ted go out, they fight together.


End file.
